History Department

This course explores the early history of Western Civilization. Topics include: Classical Greece and the Roman Republic and Empire; Christianity; the Byzantine Empire; Islam; the Carolingian Empire; Feudalism and Manorialism; the Economic Revival; Medieval Society and Culture; the Growth of National Monarchies; the Age of Exploration and Discovery; the Renaissance and the Reformation. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 101 or HIST 100. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This course explores the history of Western Civilization from the European conquest of the Americas to the end of the Cold War. Topics include: Europe’s overseas expansion; the age of absolutism; the scientific revolution; the Enlightenment; the American War of Independence; the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte; the Industrial Revolution; Nationalism, liberalism, feminism, and imperialism; the two World Wars; decolonization; and the Cold War. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 102 or HIST 100. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

It may come as a surprise to the History Channel, but ancient monuments were not built by aliens. Rather, they stand as evidence of the complex societies that existed throughout the ancient world and the goods, ideas and people that connected them. From the Han Dynasty in China to the Roman Empire in Europe to the early trade networks of the Nok in West Africa, the ingenuity, mobility and interconnectedness of premodern cultures will be explored. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 103 or HIST 116. Three credits.

Scholars now know that the premodern world was more profoundly interconnected by trade, cultural exchange and migration than we had ever realized. Still not Ancient Aliens examines some of these interconnections, from the roads of the ancient Wari of Peru to the cultural and trade connections of the Polynesian Islanders, to the premodern trade networks operating in the far North and the cultural mosaic of Islamic Spain. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 104 or HIST 116. Three credits.

W.E.B. Du Bois stated, “The problem of the colour line is the problem of the twentieth century,” but even earlier, the creation and operation of racial differences in colonial and capitalist contexts defined many key world events. This course examines the major events of world history from 1300 to the late eighteenth century’s “Age of Revolutions.” Global developments shall be examined via the social construction of racial, and ethnic differences between peoples. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 121 and HIST 110, HIST 111, HIST 141. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

W.E.B. Du Bois stated, “The problem of the colour line is the problem of the twentieth century,” but even earlier, the creation and operation of racial differences in colonial and capitalist contexts defined many key world events. This course examines the major events of world history from the late eighteenth century’s “Age of Revolutions” to the twenty-first century. Global developments shall be examined via the social construction of racial, and ethnic differences between peoples. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 122 and HIST 110, HIST 112, HIST 132, HIST 142. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This course examines the process of conquest and the rise of empires across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, spanning the centuries between 1300 and 1800. The course also addresses the impact of epidemics and pandemics, including the Black Death in Afro-Eurasia, and the genocide of indigenous populations in the Americas. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 141 and HIST 110, HIST 111, HIST 121. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This course takes a global focus on revolutionary struggles, national liberation and resistance to various forms of social oppression (like racism, sexism and misogyny, homophobia/transphobia) in the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes liberal and radical revolutions like the American and Russian Revolutions, as well as social and emancipatory movements like feminism, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, national liberation, and struggles for gay rights. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 142 and HIST 110, HIST 112, HIST 122, HIST 132. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This introductory survey lecture course is designed to examine the life and times of the Pre-Confederation Canada from a political, social, cultural and economic perspective. In this journey back in time in Canadian history, student will learn about the diversity of historical figures, experiences, events and ideas. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 213 or HIST 113. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This course provides an introduction to the major themes in Canadian history from Confederation to the contemporary era. It will explore the crucial political, economic, and social themes in Post-Confederation history. Regional, racial, ethnic, and gender variations will be addressed in this survey. Students will learn to identify, analyze, and discuss key issues in Canadian history. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 215 or HIST 115. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Explores French history from the end of the old regime to the present. Topics include the 1789 revolution and its aftermath, Napoleon, the July Monarchy, the Second Empire, class and gender in 19th-century France, the Third Republic, the Dreyfus Affair, the “Hollow Years” of the interwar era, the defeat of 1940 and the authoritarian Vichy Regime, decolonization and the rise of De Gaulle, and the role of feminism/memory/multiculturalism in post-war France with concentration on social, intellectual, cultural trends, and politics. Prerequisite: 6 credits HIST at the 100 level or permission of the instructor. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This survey course examines the political, social, cultural and economic development of the Maritime Provinces from the 16th century to the 1860s. It will explore such topics as relations between Europeans and First Nations; the clash of empires; the Acadian Expulsion; the impact of immigrant cultures; the Age of Sail; and federation with Canada. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 228 or HIST 209. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This survey lecture course is designed to examine the political, social, cultural and economic development of the Maritime Provinces from the 1860s to the 1960s. It will examine such topics as the federation with Canada; industrialization and deindustrialization; labour unrest; social reform; the world wars; the impact of modernity and state intervention; out-migration; and the historical experiences of African-Maritimers, Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Acadians, and Maritime women. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 229 or HIST 209. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Survey of the US from colonial times to the Civil War, with emphasis on aboriginal beginnings and civilizations; colonization; the rise of slavery and racism in British North America; the place of the colonies in the British Empire; the War of Independence; territorial expansion; the beginning of industrialization and its effects on the Jeffersonian notions of republicanism; the “problem” of slavery and growing sectionalism; and the road to Civil War and disunion. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Topics emphasized are the Civil War as a black freedom movement; the federal government’s brief and grudging commitment to black citizenship during Reconstruction; the abandonment of Reconstruction and the imposition of segregation in the late 19th century; industrialization and age of fabulous robber barons and desperate immigrants; the Depression and the coming of the New Deal; the civil rights movement and Vietnam and its sequels. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This class explores history of the medieval religious wars that are now known as the crusades. Although often treated collectively, these wars differed greatly in character, from penitential crusades to the holy land to disciplinary crusades against the Cathars and Hussites, to the economic war of aggression that was the Fourth Crusade. Organized as a brief chronological survey of the crusades from 1096 to 1430. This course will also examine various themes in recent crusade historiography. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Surveys Spanish and Portuguese America, 15th to the 19th centuries. Themes include the indigenous, African and Iberian heritages of Latin America; the clash of civilizations and conquest in the Americas; the interaction of diverse cultures and the creation of new societies; the social, economic and cultural evolution of colonial Latin America; the age of piracy and challenges to the Spanish and Portuguese empires; the rise of hierarchies and inequalities based on gender, sexuality, ethnicity and class; and the struggle for independence. Three credits. Offered in 2023-2024 and alternate years.

A survey of the European “long” 19th century from the French Revolution until the Great War. The course covers a variety of political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual themes, including: Revolutionary/Napoleonic France, the Industrial Revolution, the age of ideologies (liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, socialism), bourgeois and working class society and culture, Italian/German unification, the evolution of gender roles, the rise of consumerism/material culture, scientific/technological/intellectual trends, the “new” Imperialism, and the origins of the Great War. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Britain was the world’s first modern superpower. From the late 18th century it dominated the world. This course will examine both the measurable of imperial domination, but also the intangibles; Britons themselves came to believe that they exemplified national characteristics that denoted imperial rulers. What led to that mindset, and how was it viewed by subject populations. Regional studies enable us to understand relationships between the metropole and the settlers, administrators and people of British colonies. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

The topic in 2023-2024 is Historical Methods and Practices. What do historians do and how do they do it? This course introduces history students to the essential methods and practices within the historical discipline. It emphasizes skills in research, methods for assessing evidence and analyzing sources, and the tools that historians use for conducting research. In this course, students are asked to think about how and why history is written, and to evaluate how historians conduct their craft in the twenty-first century. Three credits.

The topic in 2023-2024 is The USSR, 1917-1991. This course explores the political, economic, cultural, and social history of the USSR. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 298 and HIST 320. Three credits

The topic for 2023-2024 is British Empire Decolonize. Britain was the world’s first superpower but that rule was always challenged and by the mid-20C, nation-states systematically threw off western colonial rule. However, all history is about both continuity and change, and as formal empires ended, the informal institutions that had expanded along with empire continued to reinforce hierarchies of difference that shape our world into the present. This course examines decolonization in the modern British empire with a focus on tropical territories. Three credits.

This course will explore the scholarly literature on changing approaches to and experiences of health and embodiment in Canada over the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 20th century. Students will examine how historically situated and intersecting systems of power such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and ability shaped health and well-being. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

What is told? How is it told? Why is it told? And, who is telling the story? By examining a variety of events, hero figures, communities, regions and time periods, students will look critically at how Canadians have used myth and memory to create their pasts and to construct group identities and national narratives. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Cuban history from the19th century to present. This includes the Spanish colonialism and the slave economy; struggles for abolition and independence; Spanish-American War of 1898 and 20th century U.S. domination; the 1933 revolution and struggle against Batista dictatorship; Fidel Castro, Che Guevara socialism; the Cold War Cuba in Latin America; and post-Soviet Cuba. Prerequisite: HIST 255 or 256 recommended. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024 and in alternate years.

This history of pirates starts with Columbus and ends with Blackbeard. It addresses images of piracy in history and culture, and the nature of piracy. European powers used piracy to challenge Spain in Europe and the Americas. Topics include the political economy of piracy, pirate republics, and the dynamics of class, race, gender, and sex. Instruction includes lectures, discussions, popular culture, and essays. There are no prerequisites, but familiarity with Latin American history is encouraged. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This class explores late medieval conceptions of the physical body, which were always essential to identity in the Middle Ages. Medieval discussions of the practice of reading, clothing and fashion and even spiritual union with God, often involved debates and metaphors based upon the physical body. Through an exploration of primary and secondary texts along with seminar discussions, the class will explore the interconnectedness of late medieval ideas of corporeality, identity, spirituality and sexuality. Cross-listed as WMGS 333. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

There is a long tradition of history - that is the written analysis of historical events - being used to underpin particular narratives of peoples and interests. Common examples include Thucydides suggesting that the growth of Athenian power made war with Sparta inevitable, the lack of substantive discussion of residential schools in Canadian history textbooks until very recently, and Vladimir Putin’s public addresses on the history of Ukraine arguing that it was historically Russian. By studying historiography, exploring the “history of history,” and the various approaches historians bring to their sources and writings, this course will help students understand how the discipline is grounded in present concerns and always written from a particular perspective. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 344 or HIST 445. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

This course examines major issues in the history of gender and sexuality in the new imperialism. Themes to be covered include imperial families, race, gender and professionalism, gender, sexuality and citizenship, and women in imperialism and global movements. Cross-listed as WMGS 370. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Explores the history and legacy of the destruction of the Jews in Europe during World War II. Topics include historical anti-Semitism; the rise of the Nazis; euthanasia; the ghettos; the death camps; the actions of collaborationist regimes; Jewish and non-Jewish resistance; the role of ordinary Germans; the establishment of Israel; and post-war trials and controversies. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

The topic for 2023-2024 is World War I: Causes and Battles. This course explores the origins of the First World War, as well as the main battles fought in the various theaters of operation. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 391 and HIST 390. Three credits.

The topic for 2023-2024 is The Church and Medieval Society. Students will explore the rise and development of a unified Roman Church under the authority of the Pope during the Middle Ages (5th-15th centuries), and explore how secular European Christians did or did not follow Church authority in social affairs such as politics, education, war, and love. Three credits.

The topic for 2023-2024 is Social Media Past and Present. This course explores the history of journalism and the role of social media in Canada. Beginning with newspaper publishing in the mid-eighteenth century and carrying forward into the twentieth century, students will explore how these forms helped create national and global interconnections. Students will also consider the role of the World Wide Web and new interactive technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, and interests through virtual communities and networks. Three credits.

The topic for 2023-2024 is World War I: Diplomacy and Home Fronts. This course explores the political, economic, cultural, and social aspects of the First World War. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 399 and HIST 390. Three credits.

This course examines important themes and interpretations in American history. The specific focus of the seminar will reflect the interests of the professor and the students. Three credits. Offered 2023-2024.

Each student works under the supervision of a chosen professor who guides the selection of a thesis topic, use of resources, methodological component, quality of analysis and execution, and literary calibre of the final version. A student should have an appropriate course background in the selected thesis topic. Second readers will be selected on the approval of the thesis topic and consulted with the submission of the first chapter. Required for all honours students. Six credits.

The topic for 2023-2024 is Empires, Archives, and Destruction. Archival records are at the centre of historical investigation. They are the raw material that allows historians to enter another world. This course investigates the legacy of empire and colonialism throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with special attention towards the British government’s efforts to destroy records of that evidence their crimes. Students will learn about the violence perpetuated by imperial governments across the globe and the legacy of colonialism on archives and public spaces. Three credits.

The topic for 2023-2024 is The Medieval Cult of the Saints: Relics, Pilgrimage, Hagiography. In this seminar, students will study medieval devotion to saints (the holy dead) through critical readings and discussion of primary sources and modern scholarship about saints, their relics, pilgrimage, and hagiography (saints’ biographies). Each student will prepare and write a formal research essay on a medieval saint or related topic. Three credits.